By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
New Delhi : Design afficionados and niche collectors of art and antiques from across the world can look forward to an exclusive and nostalgic sale March 18 of art, furniture and artefacts from celebrated fashion designer Gianni Versace’s home by Sotheby’s.
“This is the third and last collection from the residences of Gianni Versace (1944-1997). It is a pleasure to orchestrate this remarkable sale of such a maverick of style whose Italian taste and influence is epitomised in Villa Fontanelle collection,” Mario Tavella, Sotheby’s European deputy director responsible for single owner sale, told IANS in an email interview from London.
“Over the years, the Versace family have sold different residences of Gianni Versace and the collection that they housed,” Tavella said.
Versace was murdered by serial killer Andrew Cunanan July 15, 1997.
Period furniture, accessories and silver ware from Versace’s neo-classical villa, Fontanelle, on the shores of Lake Como, 30 miles from Milan, will go under the auctioneer’s hammer.
The 550 lots to be offered on sale by the global auction house Sotheby’s will fetch in excess of 2 million pounds ($2.8 million), an estimate by the auction house said.
Sotheby’s will recreate the highlights of a few rooms of the villa at its New Bond Street galleries in London.
The display will highlight Versace’s eye for beauty and arrangement – from the choice of his furniture to the sumptuous bedding in his residence.
Across sales in 1999, 2001 and 2005, Sotheby’s has sold collections from his Miami and New York homes. And this is the last time collectors will be able to enter Gianni’s world to buy his treasures, Tavella said.
The yellow 19th century villa was for 20 years the designer’s favourite weekend retreat and the venue of glamorous parties – which drew visitors like the late Princess Diana, Madonna, Sting and Elton John.
The furniture and paintings on sale are antique and eclectic in nature.
A lifestyle cast of Antonio Canova’s “Pugilists” (estimated at 20,000-40,000 pounds) arranged in his bedroom, is the highlight of the sale, along with a rare pair of Italian Cherrywood Breakfast Bookcases by Karl Roos (estimated at 60,000 pounds-120,000 pounds) – also from his bedroom.
The bookcases were originally commissioned by Princess Pauline Boghese for the Library Palazzo in Rome.
“In the case of his Miami and New York homes, his collections incorporated neo-classical furniture combined with his collection of contemporary and modern art. But Gianni’s collection of art and furnishing at Villa Fontanelle was quite different from those of his other homes.
“While his Miami and New York homes were flamboyant and flashy, the Lake Como residence was more elegant and traditionally Italian in its interiors and design,” Tavella said.
Gianni Versace often described his villa as a “Proust House”.
“My villas in Milano and Miami are more Batman� It is the house (that) belongs to me, reflecting a mirror image of all that I am, for better or for worse,” he had said of his home.
The lots to go on sale feature an artwork “Crossroad between Vice and Virtue (estimated at 25,000-40,000 pounds) painted in Italy in 1820.
Versace’s Lake Como residence, which he purchased as a dilapidated mansion in 1977, dates back to first half of the 19th century. It was built on the edge of the lake by eccentric Englishman, Lord Charles Currie.
According to Tavella, the auction market for antiquities and art from private homes and collections of the rich and the famous has been growing.
“As Sotheby’s success with previous Versace sales show, as well as other important single owner sales such as the contents from Carla Bruni’s family residence in Italy and contents of Elton John’s London House, the market responds well to items with exceptional provenance.
“We expect interest from a wide variety of buyers from private collectors to dealers and museums. The Versace family sold the Villa Fontanelle last April which has made it possible for us to auction its contents,” Tavella said.